Article feeding apparatus



INVENTORfi 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 65066: I? Mnaemw G. A. MAURATH ET AL ARTICLEFEEDING APPARATUS Filed May 17, 1938 L V nNHHII U fiwer 0. Zia/m6 Mf/WMQA RNEYS My 25, 1939- e. A. MAURATH ET AL 237,049

ARTICLE FEEDING APPARATUS,

Filed May 17, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 I INVENTORS 66' EA Mal/e19 r BY #40. [[Vflffff ATTORNEY Patented July 25, 1939 Wire 5 ARTICLE. FEEDINGAPPARATUS George A. Maurath, Cleveland, and Henry D. Leverett, EastCleveland, Ohio; said Leverett assignor to said Maurath Application May17, 1938, Serial No. 208,504

11 Claims.

This invention relates to article feeding apparatus and moreparticularly to apparatus of this kind, which is of simple and compactconstruction and capable of efiicient and reliable operation at both loWand high speeds.

An object of our invention is to provide novel feeding apparatus of thischaracter, embodying a pair of cooperating feed rolls to which thearticles to be fed are supplied and which have a space of tapering widththerebetween for gripping the individual articles in succession.

Another object of our invention is to provide improved article feedingapparatus having a chute adapted to contain a series of articles to befed and a pair of cooperating tapered feed rolls having a spacetherebetween to receive articles from said chute and adapted to causegripping of the lowermost article of the series.

A further object of our invention is to provide article feedingapparatus, of the type referred to, in which means is provided forcausing relative lateral adjustment of at least one of the rolls forvarying the width of the space therebetween.

Still another object of our invention is to provide article feedingapparatus in which a pair of cooperating feed rolls have a downwardlyconverging article receiving space therebetween for gripping thelowermost article and in which means is provided for limiting the extentof movement of such lowermost article into the convergmg space.

Another object of our invention is to provide article feeding apparatushaving a pair of cooperating feed rolls and a hopper for supplyingarticles thereto, and in which a pair of oscillating rollers define thedischarge opening at the bottom of the hopper and facilitate the passageof articles therefrom.

Other objects and advantages of our invention will be apparent from thefollowing description when taken in conjunction with the accompanyingsheets of drawings, in which- Fig. 1 is a side elevation with the partsbroken away showing one embodiment of our article feeding apparatus.

Fig. 2 is a partial plan view with parts in section showing the meansfor mounting and driving the feed rolls.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken through the apparatus asindicated by line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing one of the chute forming members indetached relation.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view with parts broken away and with the feedrolls removed, illustrating the construction and arrangement of certainparts of the apparatus, and

Fig. 6 is an end View of the machine with parts broken away, showing themeans for driving the oscillating rollers of the hopper.

More detailed reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings inwhich We show what we now regard to be a preferred form of our articlefeeding apparatus. Before proceeding with the detailed description itshould be understood, however, that the drawings are mainly illustrativeand that the invention may be embodied in various other forms ofapparatus capable of feeding articles of different size and shape.

In the embodiment of the invention herein illustrated we show feedingapparatus having a frame l0 which may include an elongated substantiallyhorizontal base plate ll having a pair of longitudinally spaced uprightend plate members l2 and I3 mounted thereon, and a longitudinallyextending upright web member M. The latter member is relatively low inheight as compared with the end members !2 and i3 and may projectthrough openings l5 and iii of the latter located substantially on thelongitudinal mid plane of the apparatus.

An important part of our feeding apparatus consists in the provision ofa pair of cooperating feed rolls I9 and having a downwardly convergingarticle receiving space 2| therebetween to which the articles A can besupplied, preferably in a series, so as to cause gripping of thelowermost article 22 of the series. wardly converging article receivingspace 2! may be obtained by mounting cylindrical feed rolls onrelatively inclined shafts or axes or, as illustrated in this instance,may be provided by constructing the rolls [9 and 20 with a taper andmounting the rolls to rotate on laterally spaced substantially parallelupright shafts 23 and 25. The angle of taper of the rolls I 9 and 20 maybe varied or selected to obtain the best operating condition and to suitthe characteristics of the articles to be fed.

When the articles to be fed are relatively long, thin articles such asthe rods or Wires A illustrated in this instance, we may providelongitudinally spaced pairs of the feed rolls I9 and 20, as shown inFig. 1 of the drawings. The pairs of rolls are of similar constructionand are mounted in a similar manner on the upright web or plate memberl4.

As best shown in Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings, the shaft 24 for theroll 20 is journaled in vertically spaced bearings 25 which are mountedagainst one side of the upright web It. A gear 26 mounted on this shaftis disposed between the spaced bearings 25 and meshes with a gear 2? ofa longitudinally extending driveshaft 28. The shaft 23 for the roll I9is carried by a laterally swinging arm or lever 29 so as to provide forrelative lateral adjustment of the roll I9 and variation in the width ofthe downwardly converging space 2!. The arm 29 may have a forked endwhich is pivotally connected to a projection 30 of the Web 1-4 by meansof the hinge pin 3 I. The po- This downsition of adjustment of the rolll9 relative to the roll 26 may be determined and maintained by adjustingmeans comprising a compression spring 32 acting on the arm 29 and a setscrew 33 carried by such arm and engageable with the web H3. The

spring 32 may be mounted on a stud 34 which is carried by the web I4 andextends through an opening 35 of the arm. The inner end of the. springbears against the outer side of the arm 29 and a nut or head 36on-thefstud' provides an abutment for the outer end of the spring.

The shaft 28 may be driven, as by means of the sprocket 2811, from anelectricmotor orany other suitable source of power and, through thegears 26 and 21, will cause rotation of the feed roll 20. Theapparatus-may be operated with the roll iii acting as an idler orback-up roll for the driven roll 28, butwe prefer to .alsodrive the rolll9 so that relative rotation between the rolls cannot take place. Forthis purpose we provide the rolls with annular gears 39 and 40 whichmesh with each other and cause the roll Hi to be driven from the roll28. These gears are formed with teeth of sufficient length or depth toremain in mesh with each other, even though the roll. I9 is adjustedlaterally away from the roll 20 by means of the set screw 33.

The articles A are preferably supplied in a series to the convergingspace between the feed rolls and for this purpose we provide adownwardly extending guideway or chute 4| which leads to this space. asa substantially vertical slot defined by the inner edges of a pair ofaligned arms 42 and 43 which are carried by longitudinally extending.

this instance, we form the plate members 44-- and 45 with several of thearms 42 and 43, spacedlongitudinally therealong, so as to form aguideway or chute extending for a substantial distance in the directionof the longitudinal axis of the apparatus, and in which such relativelylong articles may lie in a series with their axes substantially parallelto each other and extending in the direction of the longitudinal axis ofthe machine.

A supply of the articles to be fed may be maintained at the upper end ofthe chute 4| by a suitable hopper 49. The bottom of this hopper may beformed, in part, by longitudinal side plates 7 50 which are secured tothe end plates |2 and |3 and, in part, by downwardly and laterallyinclined bars 5| which are carried by such side plates.- The bars 5| maybe provided in suitable number to support the supply of articles, forexample,

they may correspond in number and location with the longitudinallyspaced arms 42 and 43 which define the chute 4|.

To facilitate passage of the articles from the bottom of the hopper tothe upper end of the chute 4|, we provide a pair of rollers 53 and 54which form a partial bottom for the hopper and define therebetween adischarge opening 55 leading from the hopper to the upper end of thechute. These rollers are mounted in suitable This chute may be formedbearings such as the bearing blocks 56 and 51 carried by the end platesI2 and I3 of the machine and are adapted to be oscillated about theiraxes to cause agitation of the articles and thereby facilitate thepassage of the articles from the 7 bottom of the hopper into the upperend of the chute.

' the-hopper'and engage and support the articles located immediatelyabove the upper end of the chute 4|. By oscillating these rollers thearticles at this point can be agitated and thereby'caused to arrangethemselves in regular order and to pass through the discharge opening 55into the upper end of the chute without sticking or jamming.

To permit of variation in the width of the discharge opening 55 so as toaccommodate artices of different size, we provide for lateral shiftingof the bearing blocks 5! of the roll 53. This may be accomplished byconstructing the end plates l2 and I3 with lateral slots 58 thereinwhich accommodate the bearing blocks 5?. These bearing blocks may beshifted in such slots, and locked in the desired position of adjustmenttherein, by means of suitable adjusting screws 59.

The rollers 53 and 54 of the hopper may be oscillated by any suitablemeans and, for this purpose, we may provide levers 52 and 53 which arekeyed to the respective rollers and may be connected by a link 64. Thelever 62 may be a bell crank lever and may have its angular extendingarm 65 connected with the upper end of a connecting rod 65. The lowerend of this connecting rod may be. mounted on an eccentric 61 which isdriven by the shaft 28.

From the arrangement of apparatus above described it will be seen thatwhen a supply of articles is placed in the hopper 49 and the apparatusset in operation by rotation of the shaft 28, the rollers 53 and 54 willbe oscillated to cause articles to be supplied to the chute 4 The feedrolls l9 and 20 will also be driven and as the lowermost article of theseries is applied to the downwardly converging space 2| from the chuteit will be gripped by the rolls and will be fed thereby longitudinallyof its axis and thus ejected from'between the rolls. As each article ofthe series becomes the lowermost article it will, in turn, be gripped bythe rolls, and as it is ejected therefrom it will push the precedingarticles ahead of it.

To prevent the lowermost article 22 from moving too far downwardly intothe converging space 2| between the feed rolls we may use the topportion or upper edge of the web I4 as a rest or stop to be engaged bysuch lowermost article. If desired, notches 69 may be formed in the topof the web l4 to accommodate the pairs of feed rolls I9 and 20, leavinga portion of the web upstanding to form such a stop or rest for thelowermost article of the series. The opening |5 of the end plate I2 ofthe machine may have a suitable guide, such as a guide Hi, mountedtherein to receive the articles from the feed rolls and direct the sameto an article advancing means which conveys the articles to the point ofuse. This article advancing means may comprise pairs of cooperatinggrooved rollers ll and '52 which are located at spaced points outwardlyof the guide HI and receive the articles therefrom. The rollers 72 ofsuch pairs of rollers may be driven from the shaft 28 by suitablegearing 13.

From the foregoing description and the accompanying drawings it will nowbe readily seen that we have provided a novel and efiicient articlefeeding apparatus, which is of relatively simple construction, but whichcan be operated at any desired rate of speed to cause smooth anduninterrupted feeding of articles. While our apparatus operates veryefficiently in the handling of elongated articles, such as rods orwires, the principle of the invention can be embodied in differentmachines for handling articles of various shapes and sizes.

Although we have illustrated and described the feeding apparatus of ourinvention in a somewhat detailed manner, it should be understood that wedo not Wish to be limited to the precise details of construction andarrangement of parts herein disclosed, but regard our invention asincluding such changes and modifications as do not involve a departurefrom the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

1. In article feeding apparatus, means providing a chute adapted tocontain a series of articles to be fed, a pair of feed r-olls adapted toreceive articles therebetween from said chute, at least one of saidrolls being tapered to cause the lowermost article of the series to begripped therebetween, and means for driving said rolls for deliveringthe articles therefrom in succession.

2. In article feeding apparatus, a hopper adapted to contain a quantityof articles to be fed, means providing a chute of substantiallysingle-article width adapted to receive articles in succession from thehopper and to contain a series of the articles to be fed, a pair of feedrolls having therebetween a space adapted to receive articles from saidchute and which tapers in width to cause gripping of the lowermostarticle by the rolls, and driving means connected with at least one ofsaid rolls.

3. In article feeding apparatus, means providing a chute adapted tocontain a series of articles to be fed, a pair of feed rolls havingtherebetween a space adapted to receive articles from said chute andwhich converges to cause gripping of the lowermost article by the rolls,driving means connected with at least one of said rolls, and means forlimiting the extent of movement of the lowermost article into theconverging space.

4. In article feeding apparatus, means providing a chute adapted tocontain a series of articles to be fed, a pair of feed rolls, meansmounting said rolls to receive articles from said chute therebetween andproviding for relative movement between the rolls to adjust the same forgripping of the lowermost article, driving means having connection withat least one of the rolls, and means for limiting the extent of downwardmovement of articles between the rolls.

5. In an article feeder, means providing a chute of substantiallysingle-article width adapted to contain a series of articles to be fed,a pair of feed rolls adjacent the lower end of said chute, said rollsbeing tapered and providing a converging space therebetween adapted toreceive articles from said chute and to grip the lowermost article, andmeans having driving connection with at least one of said rolls.

6. In an article feeding device, a pair of feed rolls having an articlereceiving space therebetween, means for driving said rolls to dischargearticles laterally in succession therefrom, means defining a chuteleading to said space and adapted to contain a series of the articles tobe fed, a hopper having a pair of spaced rollers defining a dischargeopening connecting with the upper end of said chute, and means foroscillating said rollers to facilitate the passage of articles from thehopper to the chute.

'7. In a device for feeding rod-like articles, a pair of feed rollshaving an article receiving space therebetween, means for driving saidrolls to discharge articles laterally in succession therefrom, meansdefining a chute leading to said space and adapted to contain a seriesof the articles to be fed, a pair of spaced elongated rollers adjacentthe upper end of said chute, a hopper adapted to contain a supply of thearticles and having a bottom formed in part by said spaced rollers, andmeans for oscillating said rollers to facilitate passage of articles tothe chute.

8. In a device for feeding rod-like articles, a pair of feed rollshaving an article receiving space therebetween, means for driving saidrolls to discharge articles laterally in succession therefrom, meansdefining a chute leading to said space and adapted to contain a seriesof the articles to be fed, a pair of spaced elongated rollers adjacentthe upper end of said chute, a hopper adapted to contain a supply of thearticles and having a bottom formed in part by said spaced rollers,means for oscillating said rollers to facilitate passage of articles tothe chute, and means for relatively adjusting said rollers to vary thewidth of the space therebetween.

9. In a device for feeding rod-like articles, a pair of feed rollshaving an article receiving space therebetween, means for driving saidrolls to discharge articles laterally in succession therefrom, meansdefining a chute leading to said space and adapted to contain a seriesof the articles to be fed, a pair of spaced elongated rollers adjacentthe upper end of said chute, said rollers having s p a c e dcircumferentially extending grooves therein, a hopper adapted to containa supply of the articles and having portions thereof extending into thegrooves of said rollers, and means for oscillating said rollers.

10. An article feeding apparatus comprising a frame having alongitudinal upright member with a recess in the top thereof, a pair offeed rolls having peripheral portions thereof extending into saidrecess, means mounting said rolls with said peripheral portions defininga downwardly converging space, means for directing articles insuccession into said space to be gripped by said rolls, and means fordriving the rolls to discharge articles laterally along the top of saidmember.

11. An article feeding apparatus comprising a frame having an uprightweb with a recess in the top thereof, a pair of feed rolls havingperipheral portions thereof extending into said recess and defining adownwardly converging recess. means mounting said rolls on said webincluding a swinging arm carrying one of the rolls and providing forrelative adjustment between the rolls, means providing a chute leadingto said space and adapted to contain a series of the articles to be fed,and means for driving said rolls to discharge articles laterally alongthe top of said web.

GEORGE A. MAURATH. HENRY D. LEVERETT.

